Chinese fringe plants are hugely popular in many places because they are almost bulletproof. Heavy soil or sand, pretty wet or fairly dry, full sun or part shade, they grow and bloom. The biggest issue with this gorgeous group is their way of growing beyond all proportions. The tag may say, “easily maintained at 4 feet tall” but I hope you are going for 6 feet and almost as wide or you’ll be pruning constantly. I knew the shocking pink flowered lorrie shown here would be a big sucker and enjoyed turning it into a treeform. But now the canopy keeps getting taller on me and it is, yes, out of proportion. In bloom at Thanksgiving, it reminded me of a turkey: massive on top with skinny legs.

When I visited a home in Holland with a quarter mile of perfect myrtle hedge, I had to ask how often the avid gardeners pruned it. The answer didn’t surprise me – it takes a full day every other week for six months a year to keep it all in sync. I am not a constant pruner but something needs a clip most every month in my Zone 8 garden. I cannot help the sense of waste if I burn or compost healthy plant material and must try at least a couple of cuttings. Since not all of these pruning jags goes by the calendar, my habit leads to rule breaking as I try to root “wrong” woods at the “wrong” time.  I have stuck cuttings indoors and outdoors, in garden soil and in rooting media, with powder and liquid rooting hormones of different strengths. Nothing has made as much difference in my efforts as bottom heat.

I first encountered a heating cable when my job was to monitor its temperature. It was a snake winding its way through rooting media in a huge wooden box under a greenhouse bench where I worked. With a soil thermometer and a clipboard, I recorded daily and it never missed despite being 10 years old. I don’t know, but there’s probably an app for that now. I liked the idea of the heating cable and it worked well, but didn’t enjoy cleaning it when refilling the rooting box. Soon enough I found heating mats and have used them ever since. When shopping for either kind of soil warmer, look at its measurements. Cables will be calculated in square inches with layout diagrams in most packages while mats come in several standard sizes. I like to fill pots or flats with damp rooting media and put them on the mat for 24 hours before sticking the cuttings. It probably doesn’t matter but I keep my plant room air temperature cool and want to avoid soil conditions that might be cool and thus promote fungus development.

No matter what time of year it is, I find wood in these prunings that is bendable and some that is hard and I try both. I have stuck cuttings of fringe flower from every kind of wood except very soft new growth and, not surprisingly, this vigorous shrub roots anytime. I take tip cuttings 6 inches long, roll the base in Hormex #3, and stick one cutting in a 3 inch pot so 2 inches of stem is below the soil. Camellia sasanquas can be problematic since they bloom in autumn and pruning more than a month later can cut off next year’s buds. The rules also say that a flowering branch will not root but I have clipped off six inches of stem, removed only the tip and old flower and had success. I was pressed into this way the year I pruned sasanquas for a client with 3 varieties that I wanted to clone. Bottom heat and Hormex #3 made it happen in a flat filled with ground bark and sand.

I worked at an office that was expanding that summer and had two problems. There were 10 huge yaupon hollies that would badly overpower the new entrance but removing them was not an option. At the same time, the new parking lot would need a windbreak soon. I cut back the yaupons by half their size even though it was midsummer. That meant a loss of berries and very mature wood in the cuttings. Undaunted and no doubt full of myself, I decided to root foot long cuttings. Thankfully for my reputation, the combination of bottom heat, Hormex, and several applications of dilute soluble 20-20-20 fertilizer resulted in a 50 per cent success rate.

Of course a mist system would increase my successes considerably but my little rig broke and I’m rethinking its design and location. Hmmm…send me your suggestions!

I remember meeting Haworthia, my first succulent plant acquaintance after Aloe vera. My mother kept that one in a pot on the porch for burns long before my daddy and his lodge buddies began putting it in their milkshakes to aid digestion. I digress, which is sometimes the best way to blog if it doesn’t go on too long.  If you don’t know Haworthia, check the photo with this blog although I doubt I can depict its charms in 2 dimensions. Haworthias sprout succulent leaves from a stemless clump like their relatives, the Aloes. There are more than 50 species native to South Africa and well suited to its harsh, hot sun environs. The leaf shapes and their markings vary wildly and give rise to extensive collections. For a look at a beautiful group of them, follow this link: http://www.haworthia.info/en/gallery/01.html.

Grow What Pleases You

I think about being more sophisticated in my succulent choices, even of branching out to grow a few other Haworthia relatives in the Gasteria group. But ordinary jade plant (Crassula ovata) and kalanchoe (K.blossfeldiana) are always with me as is this common Haworthia. Pearl plant (H. margaritifera) has had my heart all these years and always will. Pearl gets her name from the raised white dots that decorate the backside of each leaf. What starts as a dotted pointed leaf in the center of the plant soon opens to reveal the solid green topside. To my odd eye, that makes her look like a girl in a green dress with a dotted swiss petticoat underneath. You will certainly see that the leaves are thick, less chunky than most of the family, and extend to a sharp point at the tip. Because the rosette expands up as the plant puts on more leaves, pearl plant bursts with optimistic charm. Each pointy leaf holds its place in the petite symmetry and reminds me that each victory should be celebrated, even the smallest ones.

Horticulture Heaven

The original pearl plant of my youth lived in the padlocked succulent house next to the floriculture greenhouses at my alma mater, LSU. If you were very good, you got to go into this inner sanctum of glorious, truly exotic life. The small, glass pane Lord and Burnham greenhouse with a peaked roof had a gravel floor, concrete path, and raised benches like the other houses. These benches were solid and sided, however, with sheet metal bottoms to hold a bed of pea gravel. Also unlike the growing houses where uniform size pots stand at perfect spacing, the succulent pots were a wildly varied lot. I learned that most were chosen to crowd the roots slightly with enough room at the surface to encourage reproduction. The succulent house was home to representatives of every succulent family and its object was propagation. There I met rosary vine, burro’s tail, starfish flower, and dozens more, but the first one I ever got to touch was pearl plant. I watched as the green nubs grew, noting their progress with glee when they got large enough to divide and multiply.

Propagating Succulent Sideshoots

Last weekend I thought about that day as I divided yet another pearl plant, this one left too long as a crowded mother. It was really simple to slip the rootball out of the pot as this one was a pair of plants and 10 babies in a four inch pot. Left much longer, it would have broken the pot and to tell the truth, that is often a good way to know when succulents need repotting. That is the first step – to slip the rootball out of the pot – when you want to remove pups. It is tempting to pull or cut them off the mother plant right there in the pot, but less successful for most people, including me. Each pearl plant puppy is its own entity with strong ties to its mother. I’d like to think that describes my children! Most of the time you can separate the baby pearls with your fingers by gently working each one away with a few roots after you unpot it. If you must use a knife, make one clean slice through the separating tissue, usually roots knotted together from overcrowding. Sometimes there are no roots at all even on a pup an inch tall but any roots that are present need encouragement to prevent dehydration after division. Pearl plant and similar succulents present a good opportunity to use Hormex Liquid Concentrate. Soak the roots and base of the plant for 3 minutes in undiluted HLC and plant in a very well drained potting mix. Grow them forever in a warm sunny windowsill.

When the bracts put on their finest holiday hues, it’s hard not to fall in love with poinsettias. Whether you find your favorite in the reds, pinks, icy white, or wildly patterns, these are tropical plants that shout ‘Happy Holidays!’ I am a fan of white poinsettias, but every Saturday morning I am treated to a host of red ones. The atrium inside the building where I broadcast weekly has low walls arranged to guide foot traffic through the vast space. In December the walls are lined with potted red poinsettias all dressed up in foil wrap and ribbon. No matter how gray and rainy the early morning is, their beauty ‘points’ out the glory of the season and warms my heart.

All this often comes to an end along with garlands, wreaths, and trees and poinsettias get tossed into the trash. Too bad, since even a few leaves left on the stems have potential to regrow and in the process, provide cloning material. I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that many, but not all, poinsettias have plant patents clearly stated on their labels. Those that are not can be cloned at will, while the protected varieties must not be propagated for any commercial reason. That means that if you decide to grow poinsettias to decorate the church next year, choose a non-patented variety.

Once you have chosen the color that you want to keep growing, find the right place to put the new mother plant for the long term. In warm winter climates, that may be the sunny porch outdoors. Elsewhere, a heated greenhouse is ideal and next best is a warm sunroom, but I grew a poinsettia for several years in a group under artificial lights. Stuck with a room that had no windows, I lined the walls with light fixtures and plants and frankly, never grew a better bunch of assorted species.

Whether you start with a sad plant or one still in its glory, the first step to propagating poinsettia is to cut the mother plant back. The stems that have already made bracts and tiny yellow blooms have less potential than new growth. Clip off at least 3 inches of stem below the bracts, preferably half of its total length. (I know it’s hard – if the plant looks nice, wait a few weeks to do this and then proceed.) Repotting is not usually needed, but a regular program of water and fertilizer is important. Once the new stems are six inches tall, take four inch cuttings and immediately drop them into a cool place such as the produce drawer of a refrigerator for a day. The chill stops latex flow, stiffens the stems, and improves their condition for rooting. You can clone poinsettias in any clean rooting media, but they are particularly successful in rooting cubes made of oasis (like the floral foam). It’s long been a ‘secret’ that tomato seeds start readily on oasis. To use the classic product, it is necessary to soak it in fertilizer and water, then cut the block into cubes. Thanks to the hydroponic world, better cubes than you can make are readily available. They are denser, more efficient water managers, and already full of nutrients. Roll each stem in Hormex # 3 or dip in Hormex Liquid Concentrate for 1 minute and then slip it into the rooting media or cube.

Professional growers root poinsettias under mist for the first 2 weeks. During that time it is important to keep the leaves hydrated since the stems are busy forming callous and have no roots yet. An alternative is a plastic or glass cover over cuttings but its management is slightly different from most cloning cloches. Instead of opening it daily to ventilate, leave these cuttings enclosed until moisture builds up to obscure your view of them. Air exchange is important but you are advised to keep it to a minimum in this first period. After that, ventilate as needed to keep conditions moderately humid inside the chamber. In about 8 weeks, the poinsettias should be well-rooted and ready to pot up. Another advantage to using cubes is the ability to see roots creeping out the sides and that’s a gift worth giving to yourself!

Of all the classes I took in college, where I majored in English and Horticulture, none had a bigger impact than Vocabulary. The subject fascinated me then, made it much easier to understand other words, and still perks my curiosity. Geek that I am, I might be the only adult you know that still looks up the meaning and origin of unfamiliar words when I meet them. Recently I have been working on a design imprint for my small business, GardenMama, Inc. and not unsurprisingly, the focus is words. Specifically, words from horticulture (including propagation) and plant names will flow down the side of tote bags and shirts, to start. My list and arrangements of words run long and complex, but some will definitely make the cut. In reviewing these blogs I found that when a term seems out of the mainstream of conversation, I use a synonym or explain it. I also found that these are some of the most interesting words to say and spell. Think of this blog as a handy reference glossary at your fingertips and a preview of what is sure to be eye-catching apparel.

Callous. Thickened cells form on the base of cuttings in response to wounding and give rise to roots. Without the opportunity to lie out in the air after cutting to develop these cells, many succulent plants will leak at their base and fail to root. Similarly, hardwood cuttings are stored for a period of months for the callous to form and so the roots. I have a friend who swears by letting rose cuttings ‘heal over’ as he calls it before applying Hormex and sticking them into a rooting bed.

Clone. An exact reproduction of a plant created without seed. These duplicates are genetically identical to their source, often called the mother plant. There’s a great term – maybe I can work it into the design.

Hormones. Besides being the punch line for insulting jokes, these substances direct cells like traffic lights. Every living thing has an internal control panel that regulates growth and development through the manufacture and distribution of hormones.

Photosynthesis. A word that inspires awe because of its subtle power that changes the world daily. Simply put, this word refers to the way plants use solar power to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrate food that sustains them. Millions of dollars are spent annually in attempts to harness this power and its elements. We need it.

Propagate. Here, this wonderful word means the processes used to produce new plants. But its scope is as broad as the plant world itself and as deep as human technology can reach. Any plant part can be used to create offspring, from the tiny cells of tissue culture to giant bulbs, from seeds and cuttings to layers and proliferations.

Stoma. Like the Greek stomat (mouth), these plant leaf structures open and close. And like the human mouth, stomata can work for good and evil almost simultaneously. They take in essential carbon dioxide but also let vital water vapor out through transpiration.

Thrift. Girl Scout Law celebrates thrift and so does Horticulture. When a plant’s growth proceeds at an even pace and meets expectations for form and color, it displays this ideal condition. It implies intentional good care, as we expect from the Scouts and their cookies.

Transpiration. Water vapor evaporates from plants as it does from people in this process and, like human sweat, cools and moderates internal dynamics. Plants transpire primarily through opening and closing the stomata that cover leaf surfaces.

Ventilate. An essential process for plant growth in enclosures that allows fresh air to be exchanged with that inside the chamber. Without it, carbon dioxide and ethylene levels rise out of tolerance, oxygen is depleted and the whole system suffocates.

These 9 words are just the start of my list. Plants also defoliate, respire, and etiolate. Then there is xylem, phloem, cambium, and vascular. Since I cannot offer you the end result of this project, here’s a start on what to give a passionate propagator like me – and probably you, too:

• Hormex Home Garden Packs are available at the website in 2 different sets of 3 concentrations. Give one or both to suit every rooting desire.
• Grow Lights in fixtures with plant racks use just a little electricity to deliver the full spectrum to rooting beds, seed starting, and indoor gardens.
• Single-bladed Knives useful in propagation are sold as Budding and Grafting knives. The best are larger overall than the average pocket knife with a similar design except for a blunted blade and bark lifter.

This week a great two-part question crossed my desk and it reminded me it’s been awhile since I asked you to send me more. Consider them gifts of the season, if you will, to inspire future blogs – these are gifts we can both enjoy. Thanks in advance!

Here’s that question:

I want to know which one of your products is best for propagation of Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Goldcrest’. And what is the meaning of, for example, Hormex #3? Is that the dose of IBA?

Let’s begin with the last two questions. Yes, the numbers after different Hormex products refer in a shorthand sort of way to the strength of the product. This range of IBA concentrations really sets Hormex apart and makes your job as a propagator more successful. The numbers range from Hormex #1 to the most concentrated, #45, indicating their relative strengths. #45 is reserved for plants such as Juniperus sabrina ‘Tamariscifolia’, aka Tam or Tamarix juniper, that are notoriously reluctant to root. In the case of Goldcrest, a cultivar of the famed Monterey cypress, I suggest Hormex #3 to start. But since I have not rooted this one myself, I reserve the right to also suggest #8 if #3 does not yield healthy clones.

I fell in love with Monterey cypress trees many years ago because their rugged trunks so vividly reflect the landscape that carved them. The parent of the Goldcrest clone occurs naturally in very limited areas on Monterey Bay. That is on California’s central coast, for the geographically challenged among us. The relentless winds and salt spray leave their mark on the trees, creating stunning hags that cast deep shadows on the sand. Fortunately, the tree and its children (cultivars selected from natural stands of the tree) thrive outside this limited area. Like most plants, Monterey cypress originated where conditions favor its growth and similar sites worldwide host it happily. Where it is too cold, dry, or alkaline for the species and its cultivars to survive, the trees are grown as container plants and bonsai. The handsome but naturally irregular shape of this coastal cypress has been tamed into a striking upright conical form with colorful foliage in Goldcrest. It is popular and deservedly so.

Update: The night blooming jasmine rooted well and need to be potted up. This and other Cestrums (and others like yellow shrimp plant) root best from wood taken from the middle of a healthy, growing stem. When you encounter a tip cutting that will not root before it keels over, go further down the stem and try again. I was pleased to include Cestrum nocturnum, night blooming jasmine, in Gardener’s Guide to Tropical Plants. If this group intrigues you as much as it does me, I humbly note that signed copies are available at my website, www.gardenmama.com, with free shipping for the holidays. Thanks for your consideration.

Whew! I am happy to report that a recent propagation project has fared much better than I had feared. A friend showed up with a motley collection of desert plants gleaned from friends’ gardens in Arizona. He lived there for years and truly loves these plants, but had limited space on the return trip to the Southeast. In the box he delivered to me were leaves, cuttings, tiny plants, and a great deal of hope. Rooting and in some cases re-rooting these desert plants (desert rose, yucca and 2 other lilies, sedum leaves, and a couple of cactus) went like this: I set up a sand bed, dipped the ends or bottoms of each one in Hormex Liquid Concentrate – briefly for the callused leaves and cactus babies, longer for the lilies as they were already trying to push out a root. Nestled in their bed, under a full spectrum light, they did not die and some began to green up after about 6 weeks.

Wish me well! Next week I will do something I recommend that no one do. Two huge examples of the small leafed, dwarf schefflera are failing on me, wilting at their tips while still adequately damp at soil level. They are overgrown and spend the summer in the shade outdoors, but do quite well indoors, too, until now. I have seen too many tropical foliage plants lost to untimely repotting and winter is the worst choice if one has no heated greenhouse or humid sunroom for them. As I have done for much smaller plants, I will unpot these and soak their roots in Hormex Liquid Concentrate for 15 minutes before repotting in fresh soil and slightly larger pots. I am confident they will do well, but it is a leap of faith to repot something so large in less than ideal circumstances. This daily wilt has got to go! Stick with me as I leap off this cliff!

I hope that you took my advice a few weeks ago and began cutting back tropical plants for rooting material. Ok, so sometimes you have to cut back container plants to move them indoors or to the greenhouse, and sometimes you cut them back to reduce shock as you plan to shelter them in place outdoors. Either way, you have plenty of healthy material including tip, stem, and sometimes leaf cuttings. With routine attention to water and ventilation, you should expect to be seeing some results at this point. Gently grasp one of the stems and wiggle it just a bit. If it pulls right out, something is wrong, and you may have to begin again. But if the month-old clone resists your tug, it is rooting. At that point, add 1 teaspoon of Hormex Liquid Concentrate to a small reservoir.

Sometimes all is not well in the cloning world, however. Here are some conditions to watch out for, no matter what kind of plants you are rooting.

1. A cutting pulls right out of the rooting media more than a month after being stuck.
2. The surface of the rooting media looks dark; perlite turns green; cuttings wilt.
3. A crust forms on top of the rooting media.
4. Leaves fall off and tips wither.
5. No condensation forms on the inside of the rooting chamber.

Water Issues

Inconsistent watering is fatal to many cuttings, vulnerable as they are to extreme conditions whether wet or dry. The cutting needs water and rooting hormone to be able to initialize and develop roots. The same cut stem can be overwhelmed by too much water in the rooting media and respond by sealing itself up against excess hydration. It is truly a question of balance and a happy medium for most plant species lies somewhere between green perlite and crusty soil surfaces. An effective way to avoid these extremes is to use a reservoir for the chamber. Of course you still have to check in and refill it as needed, but there is some confidence in starting with damp media and maintaining it. Speaking of damp media, most soilless mixes cannot tolerate much rewetting without ill effect. Pour out what you plan to use when filling a rooting chamber and moisten it just a few hours before you want to use it. Too many people take the short cut of pouring water into the bag to dampen the whole mix but only remove what they will use. The resulting sealed up mess will clump up or dry out and flake – neither is advisable. As you pour out a small amount of Hormex Rooting Hormone to protect the rest from contamination, so you should protect the soilless mix you use for the rooting chamber by keeping it dry and covered.

Drought Stress

When the surface of a soilless mix gets dry enough to form a crust, it is very difficult to rewet and may have to be consigned to the compost heap. The reaction of the cutting is to first shed its leaves and then dry from the top down as it struggles to survive. But forgetting to water or to fill the reservoir is not the only condition that produces dried out cuttings. The reason a rooting chamber is covered is to trap humidity around the clones and assist in hydration so the leaves do not dry up and fall off during the process. Without a cover in place most of the time, the soil surface quickly dries out. Leave the top sealed on the rooting chamber too long in a sunny spot and the cuttings will collapse as surely as if a disease ravaged them. You’ve cooked them and no amount of resuscitation can save them. Clean out the box, put in fresh mix, and start again – and this time remember to ventilate!

Two More

1. A stem darkens at the soil surface or leaves turn black and fall off.
2. Cuttings fall over all at once or in rapid sequence.

These ruined cuttings are diseased and must be discarded along with the rooting media. The disease came in on the cuttings or the soil, which explains why you are always advised to use fresh media for cloning. It can be hard to spot diseased plant material, but if there are spots, streaks, or any other discoloration, root a different piece.

I got an email from a worried man who had a complete failure in his rooting efforts. After successfully rooting a variety of plants, he lifted the hood one day to find disaster. Every cutting in the 2’x 2’ box was flat on the surface of the rooting medium, its stem darkened at its base. His setup sounded good: a deep rigid plastic box with drainage and a removable hood made of PVC pipe covered with sheet plastic. He used a heating mat in winter, always waters with distilled water, and ventilates daily. The box sits on a protected porch in USDA Zone 9, the subtropics, so freezing is not a problem. The list of plants he propagated this way was impressive, too, from succulents and green stemmed tropicals to azaleas. He feared he had lost his touch, but I was able to assure him that no existential crisis loomed. The problem was a fungus, probably Pythium, an advantageous soil-dwelling rascal that can destroy vulnerable plant material overnight.

There are so many fungi on Earth that even mycologists can only estimate the number at about 1.5 million species. When I answer questions about a filmy black deposit on tree leaves in summer, it can be painful to explain that the sooty mold fungus is everywhere. Fungi live where they can find a comfortable host, in this case the excrement from insects feeding higher up in the plant. The pH and sugar content of this ‘honeydew’ is perfect for the sooty mold to land in and grow. It is ubiquitous in the atmosphere of humid climates, but some type of fungus is equally present almost everywhere. We depend on many fungi and fight off others like those that caused the disaster for the worried man.

How the fungus got into the rooting chamber is difficult to pin down, as there unfortunately are several possibilities. The good news is that the situation is controllable and preventable with better practices. Once introduced, the fungus proliferates to fill cells and block the progress of water and nutrients from the roots upward. The cutting falls over quickly as its stem stops functioning and by then it is too late to figure out how it happened. The answer to my correspondent’s issue is sanitation to get rid of the pests and keep them away. Even though I know the drill, so to speak, I learned a thing or two as I answered the question – that’s the way it’s supposed to work after all – and wanted to blog about it.

In this case, I think the fungus got into the rooting chamber and took over because good sanitation practices were not followed. To undo the infection is not impossible, but sometimes the easier path is to set up a new rooting chamber and follow these tips:

• Construct your propagation box or chamber from new materials and avoid wood if possible because it is difficult to keep clean.
• Use clean, fresh rooting media and keep extra media clean. Why don’t more bags have zipper closures, anyway? Keep bags of media or its components closed tight or even better, put bags into plastic boxes with tight-fitting tops.
• Love that shop-vac! Keep the area around the rooting chamber clean and dust free to reduce sources of infection and improve air quality for you. If other plants, pots, or soil are nearby, move them.
• Keep a spray bottle of 70% alcohol handy to disinfect any tools used inside the chamber such as misters or watering cans. Be sure any rags or paper toweling you use is fresh, too.
• Clean hands, please. Since it is hard to remember, keep hand sanitizer nearby.
• After each set of clones is rooted and pulled out, clean and disinfect thoroughly.
  • Recycle the rooting media into other potting mixes and replace it with new material.
  • Wash each component of the rooting box or chamber with soapy water, rinse with clear water, and let dry completely.
  • Mix a solution of 1 part chlorine bleach to 9 parts water, put on safety gloves and glasses and disinfect every part of the setup. Prepare only what you can use – bleach loses half its effectiveness in 2 hours.
  • To disinfect best is to separate the parts and soak them for 30 minutes in the bleach solution, then rinse in clean water. If your rooting box is indoors, move it into a well-ventilated area before using bleach!
  • Use new pots and sheet plastic for each new set of clones. Yes, you can clean them, but besides the rooting media itself, these are the greatest potential sources of contamination.

One more note: Professional products to disinfect include quaternary ammonium compounds (Green-Shield), hydrogen dioxide (Zero Tol 2.0), hydrogen peroxide compounds (Sanidate) and others. When you make the move from backyard propagator to professional and/or greatly increase the size of your propagation operation, consider them. Some organic disinfectants are available; consult product labels and omri.org for details and keep abreast of local restrictions if you are cloning for the organic market.

A friend of mine had a meltdown last week. With a cool spell predicted, she decided to move the tender plants from the porch into the house. Good idea, of course, so the plants suffer less shock than if she waited to bring them in until truly cold weather arrives. Gardeners can be clumsy, but too often it is those we enlist for help that cause the real trouble. Sadly, there were mishaps along the way – a Rex begonia fell off its tray and a big pot of mixed succulents that didn’t need to come in got kicked over, among other things.

When she showed up at my back door with a bag of leaves and a look of despair, I knew a propagation clinic was in order. After 2 cups of coffee and a verbal castigating of the oaf in question and in general, we got down to business.

There are lots of ways to root leaves and we used 3 of the most straightforward to restart the collection and build my friend’s confidence.

• Leaves that need to heal over, or callus, before cloning
• Leaves that need a stem to support them in propagation
• Leaves that can be cut to give rise to new plants

The mixed pot contained Sedums including some that trailed with chains of small green leaves and others with larger gray leaves, usually called hen and chicks. There were also dense clusters of Sempervirens that always look like little cabbages to me, some green and others quite rosy. Its remains were drippy and soft. I sorted through the pile of leaves, chose about 15 that were plump and healthy-looking, and composted the other 40 while she wasn’t looking. She was too sad for a reflection about the circle of life from plant debris to compost and back again and I knew it. These and other leaves that ooze latex or other substances need to form callus, to heal over, before sticking them to root.

My friend complained that her African violets had grown dense in the middle over the summer, leaving long-stemmed leaves in a skirt shooting out from the pot. At my suggestion, she clipped several of those leaves and brought them along. I made a fresh cut at the stem’s end, dipped it in Hormex Liquid Concentrate, and slipped each one into a tiny pot of soilless mix. She brought a bag of the mix and I showed her how to fill pots, water them well, and refill where it settles too far below the rim of the pot with damp mix. Ideally, the stem of the violet will be mostly below the soil surface with about half an inch above, putting the leaf outside the pot.

Most exciting for me, the ragtag remains of her bad day yielded 3 perfect Rex begonia leaves. Each had lovely petioles, the narrow structures that stand between the leaf and its stem and healthy veins. She held her breath as I held one leaf between my fingers by its petiole, slipped the scissors into alcohol, and cut a 2 inch semicircle from one side to the other. The result looks like a lollipop with the petiole for a stick and veins where the stripes might be. I rolled the base of the petiole in Hormex #1 and stuck it into a pot of loose mix made of hers plus some finely ground bark for extra drainage. She gasped as I took another Rex leaf, laid it on a pot of the soilless mix, and sliced through 2 of the veins. They were only small slits; just enough to wound the leaf and stimulate it to root and send up small plants, rather like those that will emerge from the African violet. I used a shallow dish for this effort and sent it home in a zipper bag to keep humidity up around the leaf while it roots. This method of making new plants is slow but never fails to amaze.

As we were working, my friend asked about leaves that sprout plantlets like the mother of thousands she saw on my bench. Its botanic name is Kalanchoe daigremontiana or Bryophyllum daigremontiana, depending on who you ask. It is also called devil’s backbone in some circles and is hardy in USDA Zone 9b and southward. I include these names here in case you want to look it up, but I recommend it as a blooming joy with tubular flowers in winter and spring. The plantlets are amusing and drop on their own to root in the pot below and in my greenhouse floor. Other plants that display this unusual behavior include piggyback plant (Tolmeia), another plant for your collection that easily becomes a conversation piece.

My friend left with plenty of propagation to keep her content and will pick up the pot full of sedum leaves this week. They took four days to heal over and are standing pretty now.

Two ways of using leaves for propagation that we didn’t use are cones and leaf wedges which are very efficient if sterile conditions can be maintained. Let me know if these propagation methods intrigue you, and I’ll blog about them.

Nellie Neal is a passionate propagator and owner of GardenMama, Inc. She advocates for gardening 24/7 at her website, www.gardenmama.com. Ask questions and comment about this blog on the Contact Us page of www.hormex.com.

A good crop of questions came across my desk, giving me the opportunity to delve into several different species and how to clone them.

1. Red apple ground cover

You asked about rooting red apple ground cover and there are 2 Hormex products that will work well for your project. You can roll callused cuttings into Hormex #3 or dip them in Hormex Liquid Concentrate, which can also be used to water the cuttings in the rooting bed.

Red Apple is an ice plant, Aptenia cordifolia, that is native to South Africa and so excellent for at least 10 of the Sunset Climate Zones. Healthy ice plants root readily in early spring and are not too difficult to root at other times. A sharp knife is preferred for taking the cuttings to avoid damage to these succulent plants. Take 4 inch stem cuttings and set them aside in a dry, warm place until the end gets callused, usually about 3 days. This step is important for the initiation of roots and without it, the cuttings will often rot. Add sand to a good potting mix (1:1) or use a soil mix made for cacti and succulents and fill small pots or a flat. Water the pots of mix once and take the leaves off of the lower half of the stems. Roll the cuttings in Hormex #3 or dip them in undiluted Hormex Liquid Concentrate for one minute and stick them in the pots or flats. A warm dry room with  indirect sunlight works best for rooting red apple ground cover. Water just enough to keep the soil damp, never wet. If you use Hormex Liquid, mix it 2 t/gal of water during rooting. Tug gently on the cuttings in about a month; if they resist, they’re rooting. Wait to pot up or plant out until the cuttings have more than an inch of healthy roots.

1. Star magnolia

You asked about cloning green stems of star magnolia and the distinction between green and brown stems is important in choosing which Hormex product(s) to use. You can roll the cuttings in Hormex #3 or soak them for 5 minutes in undiluted Hormex Liquid Concentrate. You can also use HLC mixed 2 t/gal of water while the cuttings are rooting and should, particularly if the stems are actually green, that is, new growth.

Star magnolia, or Magnolia stellata, is a beautiful small flowering tree. Its cuttings require a rich yet well-drained rooting media such as you can make by combining quality potting mix with equal parts perlite and coarse sand. Be sure to wet the perlite first to hold down the dust and then mix the ingredients very well. This mix should feel gritty to your touch when it is right.  Star mags do not transplant well, so it is suggested that you use a quart sized or even a gallon sized pot to root them. Leave an inch of headroom above the soil and below the rim of the pot so the cuttings won’t be disturbed when you water them. Fill the pots and water them once before you stick the cuttings.  At this time of year and frankly, because pure green cuttings of woody plants are much harder to clone, you will also want to strip some bark before sticking. Here’s what to do: take 6 inch tip cuttings, longer if you are not using a single blade knife and thus will have to recut before sticking. Make a single cut on a slight diagonal and strip the leaves off the lower half of the cutting. Now use your knife to scrape off just the outside of the bark on the bottom inch of the cutting. Roll the cutting in Hormex #3 or soak them for 5 minutes in undiluted Hormex Liquid Concentrate and then slip the lower 3 inches into the rooting mix. Put the pots outdoors in a low light protected location, water weekly, and mist or drape with removable plastic to keep the humidity levels up and leaf loss down while rooting. Cool weather is fine, freezing weather is not, so prepare the outside area accordingly. These are not plants to root indoors unless you have a well lit, cool basement! After a month, tug gently on the cuttings; if they resist, they are rooting, but will not be ready to plant in the garden for several months.

Next week: answers about rooting carnivorous plants!

Nellie Neal is a passionate propagator and owner of GardenMama, Inc. She advocates for gardening 24/7 at her website, www.gardenmama.com. Ask questions and comment about this blog on the Contact Us page of www.hormex.com.

This strawberry plant grew out of the raised bed above it on a runner sprouted earlier this year. It will be propagated!

I got an email from a strawberry grower last week detailing the varieties they will have for sale this fall and encouraging early orders. Since I live on the verge of the subtropics, this annual email reminds me that October will come and with it, the time to plant strawberries for spring harvest. Summer can be fatal to strawberry plants, especially those that are very hot, above 95 degrees for weeks, or very dry as so many have experienced this year. If the plants don’t dehydrate on their own, spider mites get started under the dry leaves and suck the life right out. When the weather is wet and hot, leaf diseases can wipe out a strawberry bed in a week. But if, like me, your strawberry plants have survived the summer, it is time to propagate them.

There will be no order from me to the friendly growers this year because the summer has been less tortuous than usual for strawberry plants. I have watered strawberry beds in other summers and still lost them. This year, it seemed that each time the bed began to look tired, a thunderstorm blew through to soak the soil and rehydrate the leaves beautifully. It is said that no amount of irrigation water does as much good as rainfall, and I must agree, at least in the case of my strawberry bed.

So, here’s what I’m doing. First, understand that I have a full raised bed plus 3 flats with berry plants growing in them. I had to remove 6 flats’ worth from another bed that went to perennial flowers and found new homes for only half of them. The bed itself is 3.5 feet wide and 12 feet long, raised above a gravel pad and surrounded by 1×6 cypress boards. The harvest is more than ample for us and we pick berries from March through May in a good year like this one. The plants have multiplied nicely and sent out lots of runners, thin stems that end in a small plant or a cluster of them. Both the mother plants and the runner plants can make strawberries next year if propagated now. The big idea is to have young plants big enough to transplant into a freshly made bed by mid-October. I’ve got 2 months and they’ll be ready. If this timing does not suit your gardening zone, the same process will work whenever you need to divide and multiply strawberry plants.

Like most perennials, strawberries are easier to divide out of the soil. I check out each plant as I dig it up to be sure no runner plants get ripped out of the ground where they have conveniently put down roots. If the runners are loose, I take them with the mother plant, but if they have begun to root, I cut the stem and leave that baby in place for the moment. Some perennials will fall right apart, but strawberries do not and besides, their roots are quite fragile. Separate the plant with your fingers to see the new plant and remember, a division must have leaves, roots, and the crown that joins them together. Use a sharp, single-blade knife to slice straight through and separate each new plant. If the central plant is not healthy, compost it. Soak each of the new strawberry plants for 15 minutes in a dishpan with 2 T Liquid Hormex Concentrate mixed in 1 gallon of water. I’ll pot the newbies up into a good potting mix rich with additions of worm castings and organic fertilizer. Between now and October, I will get the raised bed turned and rejuvenated with organic matter. I’ll handle the runners differently, depending on whether they already have roots or not. The ones that root in the bed will be barely rooted, so I will soak them in the same HLC solution for twice as long before potting. The unrooted runners can be laid into a flat of the same loose soil mix and dipped into Hormex #3 or undiluted HLC.

To care for the new strawberry plants, I will put the pots where I have had the flats since spring – in the shade. And yes, a couple of the plants in flats have sent out runners already so I will pot them up just like the ones in the bigger, older bed. They’ll all get watered with a 1 T/gal HLC mix once a month and again after planting in October. It is a given that strawberry plants cannot make it through hot southern summers and new ones go in the garden each October to be grown over winter like pansies and Brussels sprouts. I’m flying in the face of conventional wisdom here, and happy to be able to soar with strawberries propagated for another season.

Nellie Neal is a passionate propagator and owner of GardenMama, Inc. She advocates for gardening 24/7 at her website, www.gardenmama.com. Ask questions and comment about this blog on the Contact Us page of www.hormex.com.